Automatic ensemble device for a keyboard electronic musical instrument

ABSTRACT

On a keyboard electronic musical instrument, when a melody and chords are played, there is automatically produced an additional line of melody consisting of tones each being a member of the associated chord, thereby accomplishing harmonization to the original melody. The device comprises: A FIRST KEY SWITCH CIRCUIT INCLUDING KEY SWITCHES EACH HAVING A NORMALLY OPEN CONTACT CONNECTED TO THE TONE GENERATOR OF THE ASSOCIATED TONE, A NORMALLY CLOSED CONTACT AND A TRANSFER CONTACT, THE NORMALLY CLOSED CONTACT BEING CONNECTED TO THE TRANSFER CONTACT OF A LOWER ADJACENT TONE KEY SWITCH; AND A SECOND KEY SWITCH CIRCUIT INCLUDING KEY SWITCHES EACH CONNECTED TO THE TRANSFER CONTACT OF THE KEY SWITCH OF A MAJOR SECOND LOWER TONE IN THE FIRST KEY SWITCH CIRCUIT AND TO A SUCCEEDING STAGE SUCH AS A TONE COLORING CIRCUIT.

United States Patent Hiyma [72] Inventor: Ryo Hiyma, Shizuoka-ken, Japan [73'] Assignee: Nippon Jokki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha, Shizuoka-ken, Japan 22 Filedz April 12,1971 211 Appl.No.: 133,320

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data [151 3,694,562 1 Se t. 26, 1972 Cookerly et al. ..84/1.08 X Hiyoshi ..84/l.01 X

Primary Examiner-Lewis l-l. Myers Assistant Examiner-U. Weldon Attorney-Kemon, Palmer & Estabrook [57] ABSTRACT On a keyboard electronic musical instrument, when a melody and chords are played, there is automatically produced an additional line of melody consisting of tones each being a member of the associated chord,

1 thereby accomplishing harmonization to the original April 14, 1970 Japan ..45/3l2l6 April 14, 1970 Japan ..45/31217 T a first key switch circuit including key switches each [52] U.S. Cl ..84/1.l9, 84/1.24, 84/D1G. 4 having a normally open contact connected to the tone [51] Int. Cl. ..Gl0h l/02 generator of the associated tone, a normally closed [58] Field of Search ..84/1.01, 1.07, 1.08, 1.17, contact and a transfer contact, the normally closed 84/ 1.24, DIG. 4 contact being connected to the transfer contact of a lower adjacent tone key switch; and [56] References Cited a second key switch circuit including key switches UNITED STATES PATENTS I each connected to the transfer contact of the key switch of a major second lower tone in the first key 2,681,585 5/1954 4 X switch circuit and to a succeeding stage such as a tone 3,000,252 9/1961 Wayne ..84/DlG. 4 X coloring circuit. 3,049,959 8/1962 Meyer ..84/DIG. 4 X I 3,215,767 11/1965 Martin ..84/1.24 6'Claims, 10 Drawing Figures i l 11 I1 14 H i I n KEYERS TONE FIRST KEY SECOND KEY GENERA'RFSl SWITCH CIRCUIT SWITCH CIRCUIT I This invention relates to a keyboard electronic musical instrument and more particularly to a keyboard electronic musical instrument provided with an automatic ensemble tone producing device.

With a keyboard electronic musical instrument, for example, an electronic organ, it is often desired not only to play specified melody tones by selectively depressing the plural keys arranged in the order of musical notes generally withone of the right hand fingers and chord tones well matched with said melody tones by selectively depressing at the same time some of another group of keys arranged similarly in the order of musical notes with some of the left hand fingers, but also carry out the so-called ensemble performance by simultaneously playing musical tones (hereinafter referred to as ensemble tones) which constitute an additional line of melody, below or above the original melody, consisting of tones each being a member of the associated chord, thereby accomplishing harmonization to the original melody.

With the prior art keyboard electronic musical instrument, however, the ensemble performance has to be effected using not only one of the right hand fingers for playing melody tones and some of the left hand fingers for producing chord tones but also one or more of the remaining right hand fingers all at the same time. Therefore, the conventional electronic musical instrument has the drawbacks that the ensemble performance is considerably difiicult for beginners or middle class players and in fact can only be enjoyed by those who have accomplished advanced performance techniques.

It will be noted that melody and ensemble tones used in the ensemble performance generally have such pitches as never fail to be differentiated from each other in a predetermined degree. In this case, the

melody tones are chosen to have either higher or lower pitches than those of the ensemble tones.

This invention has been accomplished in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and is intended to provide an automatic ensemble performance device for a keyboard electronic musical instrument capable of playing desired ensemble tones simultaneously with tones of melody and chord simply by operating the keys used in producing melody tones and chord tones matched therewith.

According to this invention, there is provided an automatic ensemble device for a keyboard electronic musical instrument comprising tone generators; a first group of keys with associated keyers for playing chords; a second group of keys with associated keyers for playing melodies; a first key switch circuit including key switches each having a normally closed contact and a transfer contact, the normally closed contact being connected to the transfer contact of the key switch of an adjacent tone; and a second key switch circuit including key switches each connected to the transfer 7 contact of the key switch of a predetermined interval apart tone in the first key switch circuit and to a succeeding stage such as a tone coloring circuit.

This invention can be more fully understood from r the following detailed description when taken in connection with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of an automatic ensemble device for a keyboard electronic musical instrument according to an embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a concrete circuit arrangement of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 38 respectively represent the schematic arrangements of unit switch circuits included in the first and second key switch circuits of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows the concrete musical notations of the melody, chord and ensemble tones played by the automatic ensemble device according to the invention;

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate other arrangements of the embodiment of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 indicates another arrangement of the first key switch circuit;

FIG. 7 is a schematic circuit arrangement of the first key switch circuit constituting the main part of an automatic ensemble device according to another embodiment of the invention for a keyboard electronic musical instrument; and

FIG. 8 is a concrete circuit arrangement of a latching selector included in FIG. 7.

There will now be described by reference to the appended drawings the preferred embodiments and modifications thereof an automatic ensemble device according to this invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit arrangement of an automatic ensemble device according to an embodiment of the invention. A keyboard electronic musical instrument, for example, an electronic organ generally comprises tone generators 10, melody and chord performance sections 13 and 23, which include keyboards 11 and 21 having plural keys 11 to 11,, and 21 to 21, arranged in the order of musical notes in a chromatic scale and keyers 12 and 22 associated with the individual keys on the keyboards 1 1 and 21 and operated in interlocking relationship with selective depression of the corresponding keys so as to derive tone signals having predetermined pitches from the tone generators 10.

Where a keyboard electronic musical instrument has an upper and a lower keyboard, the upper keyboard is used as a melody keyboard 11 and the lower keyboard as a chord keyboard 21. Where, however, the musical instrument is provided with a single keyboard, the whole of the keyboard is generally intended for melody performance, though a certain part in the lower tone region is used for chord performance.

The keys 11 to 11 on the keyboard 11 of the melody section 13 are selectively depressed, generally, with one of the right hand fingers to produce desired melody tones, whereas the keys 21 to 21, on the keyboard 21 of the chord section 23 are selectively depressed at the same time with some of the left hand fingers to generate desired chord tones. (In this case there are generally played bass tones in addition. Since, however, the bass tones are not essential in this invention, description thereof is omitted.)

A keyboard electronic musical instrument according to this invention is provided with an ensemble performance section 33 of the undermentioned arrangement capable of playing simultaneously with melody and chord tones the desired ensemble tones which are well matched with the chord tones to be played and whose pitch is differentiated in a predetermined degree from that of melody tones, simply by selective depression of the melody and chord keys just as in normal melody and chord performances without carrying out the complicated, difficult finger operation required for a prior art keyboard electronic musical instrument where there is to be conducted said ensemble performance.

The ensemble performance section according to this invention consists of a first key switch circuit 31 for selecting from the tone generators l operated at the time of chord performance, as described later, in interlocking relationship with selective depression of some of the keys on the chord keyboard 21 the preset combination tone generators which correspond to the musical notes of the chord tones to be played; and a second key switch circuit 32 for selecting from the tone generators connected with the first switch circuit 31, operated at the time of melody performance, as described later, in interlocking relationship with selective depression of one of the keys on the melody keyboard 11 and selected by said first switch circuit 31 only those tone generators which correspond to the musical tones whose pitch is lower or higher, for example, by major second, minor second, or minor third than that of the musical tones constituting melody tones.

FIG. 2 is a concrete circuit arrangement particularly of the ensemble section of FIG. 1 including first and second key switch circuits. The first key switch circuit 311 consists of a plurality of unit switch circuits 311 to 311,- (where i denotes a given positive integer), as singled out in FIG. 3A, which are each provided with one movable contact strip 41 to 41,- operated like any of the keyer elements 22 to 22, of the chord keyers.22 in interlocking relationship with any corresponding one of the keys 21 to 21,- on the chord keyboard 21, one normally open fixed contact 42 to 42, and one normally closed fixed contact 43 to 43,. The first key switches are preferably associated with the playing keys in the keyboard in such a manner that all of the same notenamed key switches (e.g., all C-switches) are simultaneously actuated by depression of a single key having that note name (e.g., C) in any octave of the keyboard.

Such construction may be realized mechanically utilizing an octave coupler mechanism, or electrically utilizing multi-contact relays. On the other hand, the second key switch circuit 321 consists of a plurality of unit switch circuits 321 to 321,, as singled out in FIG. 3B, which are each provided with one movable contact strip 51, to 51,- operated like any of the keyer elements 12 to 12,- of the melody keyers 12 in interlocking relationship with any corresponding one of the keys 11, to 11, on the melody keyboard 1 l, and one normally open fixed contact 52 to 52,. According to this invention, the normally open fixed contacts 42 to 42, of the unit switch circuits 311, to 311, of the first key switch circuit 311 are connected to the corresponding unit tone generators 10, to 10, through the corresponding lead wires W to W, bundled together. The movable contact strips 41, to 41,- of said unit circuits 311 to 311, are

connected to the movable contact strips 51, to 51, of

those unit switch circuits 321 to 321, of the second key switch circuit 321 which correspond to the tone generators producing musical tones whose pitches are lower by a predetermined difference, for example, major second than those of melody tones. The normally closed fixed contacts 43, to 43. of the unit switch circuits 311 to 311, of the first tone generator switch circuit 311 are connected to the movable contact strips 41, to 41, of the adjacent unit switch circuits on the lower pitch side.

With a keyboard electronic musical instrument of the aforementioned arrangement, selective depression of given keys on the keyboards 11 and 21 enables not only melody tones and chord tones well matched therewith as shown in FIG. 4 to be played, but also desired ensemble tones to be produced simultaneously by selecting those tone generators corresponding to the musical notes constituting the chord tones to be played by means of the first key switch circuit 31 or 311 and thereafter further selecting from the tone generators already selected by said first switch circuit 31 or 311 those tone generators which produce tone signals whose pitches are lower by major second than those of the melody tones to be played by means of the second tone generator selecting switch circuit 32 or 321.

Table 1 below represents the relationship of the musical notes of chord and melody tones versus those of ensemble tones (Duet), all played in the aforementioned case.

Musical Notes for Ensemble As seen from Table l above and the circuit of FIG. 2, simultaneous depression on the chord keyboard 21 of, for example, three keys corresponding to the musical notes C, E and G constituting the chord [C] causes only the movable contact strips of the three corresponding unit switch circuits included in the first key switch circuit 311 to be changed over, as shown in FIG. 2, from the normally closed to the normally open fixed contacts. When, under such condition, there is depressed a key corresponding to any of the musical notes D to F on the melody keyboard 11, then, only the movable contact strip of the corresponding unit switch circuit included in the second key switch circuit 321 is short-circuited with the normally open fixed contact thereof, enabling an ensemble tone having a pitch corresponding to the musical note C to be played. Similarly, depression of a key corresponding to any of the musical notes F to G on the melody keyboard 11 enables an ensemble tone having a pitch corresponding to the musical note E, and depression of a key corresponding to any of the musical notes A to C on the melody keyboard 11 enables an ensemble tone having a pitch corresponding to the musical note G to be played.

Therefore, on the instrument of this embodiment, when a line of melody l is played by the right hand fingers and chords 2 by the left hand fingers as shown in FIG. 4, there automatically comes out additional line of melody 3 consisting of tones each being a member of the associated chord, thereby accomplishing harmonization to the original melody.

With a keyboard electronic musical instrument according to this invention, therefore, it is possible to play simultaneously with melody and chord tones the desired ensemble tones well matched with the chord tones to be played and having pitches differentiated in a predetermined degree from those of the melody tones to be played, thus allowing even beginners and middle class players to enjoy an ensemble performance.

Referring to FIG. 2, output signals from the keyers l2 and 22 and the second key switch circuit 321 are reproduced from a loud-speaker (not shown) through the corresponding tone coloring filters 14, 24 and 34 (which generally have different frequency characteristics for each group of several adjacent tone generators).

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate other patterns of connec- .tion between the first and second key switch circuits 31 and 32 where the ensemble tones derived from the ensemble performance section 33 are chosen to have lower pitches differentiated from those of melody tones by minor second and minor third respectively. The same parts of FIGS. 5A and 5B as those of FIG. 2 are denoted by the same numerals and description thereof is omitted. I

Table 2 below illustrates the relationship of the musical notes of the chord and melody tones versus those of ensemble tones.

Joint use of the ensemble performance sections 331, 332 and 333 arranged as shown in FIGS. 2, 5A and 5B enables not only the aforesaid duet, but also trio, quartet or quintet ensemble performance to be easily realized by the same key operation as described above, that is, simply by the key operation required for ordinary melody and chord performances. While the foregoing description relates to the case where the ensemble tones were chosen to have lower pitches than those of the melody tones, it will be apparent that this invention is also applicable to the reverse case.

FIG. 6 indicates another means for operating in the aforementioned manner the movable contact strips of the unit switch circuits included in the first and second key switch circuits of FIG. 2 in interlocking relationship with selective depression of the keys on the melody and chord keyboards 11 and 21. There will now be described, for example, the arrangement of the first key switch circuit 311. The movable contact strips 61, to 61, of switches 60. to 60. associated with and actuated by the respective keys on the chord keyboard 21 are grounded through relay coils 63, to 63 respectively driving the movable contact strips 41, to 41; of the corresponding unit switch circuits 311 to 311, in FIG. 2. The normally open fixed contacts 62, to 62, associated with said movable contact strips 61 to 61, are collectively connected to the ground. The negative terminal of a DC. source 6 5 is grounded, and the positive terminal thereof is connected to the other sides of the relay coils through a normally open switch 64 which is' to be closed prior to performance when ensemble performance is required. Every relay is provided with unit switches (each consisting of the movable contact strip 41,-, the normally open fixed contact 42, and the normally closed fixed contact 43,) for the same named tones in different octaves, the switches being connected one after another in a manner shown in the block 31 l in FIG. 2. i

This circuit arrangement causes only those of the switches which correspond to the depressed keys on the chord keyboard 21 to be selectively closed so as to be connected to the DC. source 65, and in consequence only those of the relay coils 63 to 63,- which correspond to said closed switches to be also selectively energized, with the remaining relay coils kept deenergized. Accordingly, operation of the unit switch circuits 311, to 311,- can be controlled in the same manner as shown in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 7 is a schematic circuit arrangement of the first key switch circuit constituting the main part of an automatic ensemble device according to another embodiment of this invention for a keyboard electronic musical instrument. The embodiment of FIG. 7 has a latching selector disposed between the movable contact strips 61 to 61; and the relay coils 63 to 63,-. This latching selector 70 so acts as to cause the relay coils 63 to 63, to have a self-holding function so as to keep themselves selectively energized until there is depressed another combination of those keys on the chord keyboard 21 which correspond to the musical notes constituting other chord tones to be played next time, even though key depression is released after the relay coils 63 to 63 are selectively energized at the time of chord performance. 1

FIG. is a concrete circuit arrangement of the latching selector 70 of FIG. 7. For each of the relay coils 63 63 63,. there are provided bistable flipflop circuits 701 to 701, each having two transistors as TR TR g, TRz TR22 TR TR The collectors of the transistors TR TR TR, each constituting one unit of the aforementioned groups are connected to the corresponding relay coils 63, to 63 and the collectors of the TR TR TR each constituting the other unit of I the aforementioned groups are connected to the D.C. source 65 through the corresponding resistors R R R The emitters of the former transistors TR TR TR are collectively grounded through a common choke coil L and the emitters of the latter transistors TR TR TR are directly grounded. The bases of said latter transistors TR TR TR are connected to the movable contact strips 61 61 61,- of the corresponding switches 22 22 22 The above-mentioned bistable flip-flop circuits 701 to 701, are so designed that when the corresponding switches 60, to 60, are opened, that is, under a normal condition in which there are not depressed the corresponding keys on the chord keyboard 21, the latter transistors TR to TR are turned on and the former transistors TR to TR are turned off and that when there are selectively closed said switches 60 to 60, in interlocking relationship with the depressed keys, the bistable flip-flop circuits corresponding to the closed switches present reversed conditions, causing the latter transistors TR to TR,- to be turned off and the former transistors TR to TR, to be turned on.

With a first key switch circuit 311 constructed as described above with addition of a latching selector 701, when there are selectively closed the switches 60, in interlocking relationship with selective depression of a combination of those of the keys on the chord keyboard 21 which correspond to the musical notes constituting the chord tones to be played, then the flipflop circuits corresponding to the closed switches present reversed conditions, causing either group of transistors to be turned on and the other group to be turned off. Therefore, there is selectively supplied ex 2 citing current from the DC. source 65 to energize those relay coils alone which correspond to the closed switches. As a result, only the movable contact strips of those of the 'unit switch circuits of the first key switch circuit 311, 312 or 313 ofFlG. 2, 5A or 5B which correspond to the energized relay coils are changed over from the normally open fixed contacts to the normally closed contacts. If, at this time, there is selectively depressed one of the keys on the melody keyboard 11 for desired melody performance, then it is possible simultaneously to play an ensemble tone whose pitch is differentiated in a predetermined degree from that of said melody tone.

With the flip-flop circuits 701 to 701,, selective closure of the switches 22 so reverse the circuit condition that either group of transistors is charged over from the ON to the OFF state and the other group from the OFF to the ON state. During the period of said shifting, there is induced voltage across both ends of the choke coil L. The induced voltage still remains even after key depression is released. Accordingly, the flip-flop circuits 701 to 701,- so act as to cause the corresponding exciting coils 63 to 63 to have a self-holding function so as to keep themselves selectively energized, and can continue, even after release of the depressed chord keys, the production of ensemble tones well matched with the chord tones to be played and having musical notes whose pitches are differentiated in a predetermined degree from those of the melody tones to be played.

When there is depressed a different set of predetermined combination chord keys where it is desired to play another chord performance and the corresponding switches 60,- are closed, then the flip-flop circuits corresponding to the closed switches present reversed conditions as described above, causing the corresponding relay coils to be selectively energized and a counter spike having an opposite polarity to the aforesaid induced voltage to be generated across both ends of the choke coil L. As a result, the flip-flop circuits which have kept energized the relay coils corresponding to the chord tones already played reverse their conditions a second time to be brought back to the state when there is not played any chord performance, causing either group of transistors to be changed over from the ON to the OFF condition and the other group from the OFF to the ON condition, thereby stabilizing the entire apparatus. Therefore, the circuit arrangement of FIG. 8 always enables an ensemble performance corresponding to a freshly selected chord to be played exactly in the same manner as in the preceding embodiments without any obstruction.

Referring to FIG. 8, the capacitor C connected between both ends of the DC. source 65 is a decoupling type intended to minimize objectionable momentary variations occurring in the voltage of said D.C. source when the flip-flop circuits 701, to 701, are switched as described above.

What is claimed is:

1. in combination with a keyboard electronic musical instrument of the type having a plurality of tone generators and melody and chord sections and melody and chord keys, an automatic ensemble section comprising:

a first key switch circuit interconnected with said chord keys and operative in response to depression of chord keys to establish connections to tone generators equal in number to the number of tones in the chord and having the same letter designation; and,

a second key switch circuit interconnected with said melody keys and said first key switch circuit and operative in response to depression of said melody keys to select one of said tone generators connected to said first key switch circuit by said chord section;

whereby upon simultaneous depression of keys in said chord and melody sections, an ensemble tone in addition to the chord and melody tones is automatically produced, said ensemble tone being always of the same letter designation as one of the tones produced by said chord section and always differing in pitch with and being in harmony with the tones produced by said melody section.

2. The combination defined by claim 1 in which said first key switch circuit includes a plurality of fixed contacts connected to said tone generators, a second plurality of fixed contacts connected to said second key switch circuit and a plurality of movable switch members for bridging corresponding ones of said fixed contacts in response to depression of said chord keys, said movable switch members normally connecting said second plurality of contacts together.

3. The combination defined by claim 2 in which said second key switch circuit includes a plurality of normally open switches selectively closed by depression of said melody keys and connected to said movable switch members of said first key switch circuit.

4. The combination defined by claim 1 including a plurality of relay coils connected to be energized by depression of said keys, said coils controlling said first and second key switch circuits.

5.. The combination defined by claim 4 including latching means operative upon depression of said chord keys for holding said relay coils energized until a succeeding chord is played.

cuits.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE, OF CORRECTION Patent No, 3,694,562 Dated September 26, 1972 Inventor(s) Ryu Hiyama It is certified that error appears in the above-identified jietent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below: l

[72] Inventor; Ryu Hiy aiha 'Shizuoka-ken, Japan Signed and sealed this 13th day of February 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents ORM FO-1050 (10-69) USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 v1 u.s GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE l9" 0-366-334,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,694,562 Dated September 26, 1972 Inventor (s) Ryu Hiyama It is certified that error appears in the above-identified b etent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

[72] Inventor: Ryu Hiyafna Shizuoka-ken, Japan Signed and sealed this 13th day of February 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents ORM PO-1050 (10-69) USCOMM-DC 6O376-P69 us eovennmsm PRINTING OFFICE (9s; O366334. 

1. In combination with a keyboard electronic musical instrument of the type having a plurality of tone generators and melody and chord sections and melody and chord keys, an automatic ensemble section comprising: a first key switch circuit interconnected with said chord keys and operative in response to depression of chord keys to establish connections to tone generators equal in number to the number of tones in the chord and having the same letter designation; and, a second key switch circuit interconnected with said melody keys and said first key switch circuit and operative in response to depression of said melody keys to select one of said tone generators connected to said firsT key switch circuit by said chord section; whereby upon simultaneous depression of keys in said chord and melody sections, an ensemble tone in addition to the chord and melody tones is automatically produced, said ensemble tone being always of the same letter designation as one of the tones produced by said chord section and always differing in pitch with and being in harmony with the tones produced by said melody section.
 2. The combination defined by claim 1 in which said first key switch circuit includes a plurality of fixed contacts connected to said tone generators, a second plurality of fixed contacts connected to said second key switch circuit and a plurality of movable switch members for bridging corresponding ones of said fixed contacts in response to depression of said chord keys, said movable switch members normally connecting said second plurality of contacts together.
 3. The combination defined by claim 2 in which said second key switch circuit includes a plurality of normally open switches selectively closed by depression of said melody keys and connected to said movable switch members of said first key switch circuit.
 4. The combination defined by claim 1 including a plurality of relay coils connected to be energized by depression of said keys, said coils controlling said first and second key switch circuits.
 5. The combination defined by claim 4 including latching means operative upon depression of said chord keys for holding said relay coils energized until a succeeding chord is played.
 6. The combination defined by claim 5 in which said latching means comprises a plurality of flip-flop circuits. 